How vehicle classes work in Orbit — presets for new vehicles, routing and class suggestion, customisation, and how a class differs from a physical Vehicle.
Vehicle classes are a fundamental component of Orbit, influencing various features and system functionalities in the background. While Orbit comes with a set of pre-configured standard vehicle classes, users can fully customise these classes, including attributes like load area dimensions, weight capacity, and priority, to meet specific company needs.
Key Highlights
Presets: Vehicle classes contain information that functions as an overwritable preset when adding new Vehicles to Carriers inside of Orbit MissionControl.
Routing: Vehicle classes also play a crucial role in routing Shipments on Tours, as they directly influence what vehicle are suggested for a given Tour.
Understanding the following three entities is essential for effectively managing and routing Shipments within Orbit MissionControl:
Load Carriers: A load carrier is a load-bearing means of combining goods to form a load unit. Load carriers include, in particular, load-bearing transport aids. It facilitates the handling of load units and thus promotes the efficiency and speed of the transport chain. In Orbit, Load Carriers also serve as a preset for creating new Loads within Shipments. You can define their dimensions (width, length, and height) initially and overwrite these during Shipment creation. An example of this could be a preset named Europallets.
Vehicle Classes: The purpose of Vehicle Classes is two-fold: Similar to Load Carriers, they serve as presets for creating new vehicles. When setting up vehicle classes, you will be asked to provide the dimensions of the available loading space (width, height and length). This preset will then be applied when creating new Vehicles of a specific class and may be overwritten. The second purpose, however, is a little more intricate. When routing Shipments on Tours, vehicle classes serve as a main reference for determining what vehicles should be available to be assigned on tours.
Vehicles: These are the actual, operable vehicles. Each vehicle is assigned to a Vehicle Class and typically inherits presets from that class, including loading area dimensions, weight capacity, and maximum vehicle weight. Vehicles are the entities assigned to Tours to perform transport tasks. Orbit is as specific as possible and uses real vehicle data when available, e.g. for calculating ETAs or LoadPlans.
Identifier: This identifier is the unique reference of a vehicle class and can be found in exports, webhooks and when using the Orbit API.
Display Name: The localisable name of a vehicle class, potentially including translations for all languages supported by your system. This name appears in various platform features, such as lists, detail pages, and the Orbit Cockpit app.
Dimensions: These include the length, width, and height of the available loading area, measured in centimeters. These dimensions not only serve as a preset when creating new Vehicles but also as a reference in the routing and class suggestion process for Shipments on Tours.
Weight Capacity: The maximum load weight that can be accommodated by the vehicle. Similar to dimensions, it acts as a preset for new Vehicle creations and aids in determining the appropriate class during Shipment routing on Tours.
Maximum Total Weight: The highest permissible weight combining the vehicle's own weight and all loaded items. This, along with dimensions and weight capacity, forms a preset for new Vehicles and is crucial in vehicle class suggestion during Shipment routing on Tours.
Sorting Index: In processes like calculating the vehicle class for a tour, the system iterates through all vehicle classes, starting with the lowest sorting index value. The first class meeting all requirements (like loading area dimensions and weight capacity) is chosen, ensuring an efficient and suitable match. The Sorting Index can be used to prioritise certain vehicle classes over others e.g. if you prefer to first utilise a certain class of vehicles before considering others.
Orbit comes with a set of pre-defined vehicle classes, so that the system is immediately ready to be used. These include:
Van Small
Van Large
Box Van
Rigid 7,5t
Rigid 12t
Rigid 18t
While these classes provide a sensible starting point, users are free to modify and extend the classes to meet specific operational requirements. The ‘Vehicle Classes’ section within Orbit MissionControl’s settings allows users to define new classes and customise all properties. This includes tailoring display names, dimensions, weight capacities, and sorting indexes to fit your unique needs.
A Vehicle Class is a reusable category — a capacity and dimension profile shared across your whole organisation. A Vehicle is a specific, operable truck or van that belongs to one Carrier and points at a class. The class is the template; the vehicle is the real unit in the yard, with its own number plate and its own dimensions, which can differ from the class preset.
Each Vehicle carries two distinct sets of dimensions, and they serve different purposes:
Cargo area (container) dimensions — the internal loading space. These decide whether loads actually fit, and are what the 3D LoadPlan packs into.
Vehicle (outer) dimensions — the overall size of the vehicle, used for routing and access constraints.
Vehicle Classes integrate seamlessly with Orbit's comprehensive Roles and Permissions system. This integration allows Operators to manage access, controlling which actions different user groups can perform with Vehicle Classes, and what they can view. To modify, extend, or update Vehicle Classes, it's essential to ensure that your user role includes the necessary permissions.
Tip
For more detailed information, please refer to the following page: Roles and Permissions
Consider a city-based grocery delivery company that predominantly uses cargo bikes. Here's how they might configure a Vehicle Class for their needs:
Identifier:BIKE
Display Name:
German:Lastenrad
English:Cargo Bike
Dimensions:
Width: 51 cm
Length: 72 cm
Height: 45 cm
Weight Capacity:150 kg
Maximum Total Weight:250 kg
Sorting Index:0
In this setup, the BIKE class is tailored for compact urban deliveries. The dimensions and weight capacities are suited for typical grocery loads. Setting the sorting index to 0 ensures that this vehicle class is considered first (e.g. before considering a scooter or car Vehicle Class) when the system evaluates if it meets the Shipment requirements during the routing process on Tours. This prioritisation reflects the operational focus on cargo bikes for efficient, urban delivery solutions.
Note
Vehicle Classes are independent of Orbit’s pricing engine and can be treated from an operational perspective without compromising pricing strategies.
